Credit Suisse is set to take a top-five position advising on Italian mergers and acquisitions after being appointed to advise Banca Popolare di Verona e Novara on a potential merger with Banca Popolare Italiana.

Pop Verona, which has also hired Goldman Sachs as co-adviser, is one of four banks eyeing a merger with its domestic rival in a deal that could be worth as much as €7bn ($9bn), according to Italian newspapers.

Credit Suisse’s move into the top-tier of advisory banks in Italy comes after the bank finished in 17th position for announced European M&A last year, according to figures from Dealogic, the data provider.

The bank hired Gianfranco Mattei, a former senior manager from the Royal Bank of Scotland, in July to take over as head of its office in Rome. Previously Mattei had held roles at Italian banks including head of investment banking at Sanpaolo IMI and chairman of Banca IMI.

The raft of mandates comes as Charlie McCreevy, the European Union internal markets commissioner, praised the Bank of Italy’s role in encouraging consolidation in Italy’s banking sector and spoke of the “the considerable progress made by Italian banks compared to last year”.

McCreevy also highlighted the significance of the potential $37.6bn merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI. Citigroup and Rothschild are advising Sanpaolo, while Merrill Lynch and Banca Leonardo are advisers to Intesa.